Session 4 Review

Maybe I learned how numbers tell stories from baseball. I had the opportunity to go to a lot of baseball games as a kid. I’d score the game and marvel how the game was the perfect juxtaposition of individual and team, exact specifications and the idiosyncratic. But it was how all numbers worked together to tell the story of a game: Batting Avg, OPS, ERA, RBI, 90ft…

Alpha Austin Session 4 statistics were excellent:

• Minutes and productivity were consistent across all seven weeks
• Session 4 productivity was approximately 20% higher as compared to Session 3
• Average minutes increased dramatically in our youngest two cohorts (~250+ in LL; ~160+ in L1) as compared to S3
• Levels were in close competition with one another on minutes and productivity as L4 led most of the way, but falling short to L1 and L2 a few times
• Productivity was so high that the majority students finished their session goals by the beginning of week 6, meaning minutes began to trail in the final two weeks as students focused on other matters of importance (i.e. “What will I use all of these Alphas to buy in the Alpha Emporium?”)

A look inside the numbers reveals a lot of firsts, many of which will be detailed in guide notes and progress reports. Choosing to focus on the collective, I compiled a short list:

• Alpha students did all of this work in Remote Mode. (A first that must not be lost)
• Alpha students applied their life skills. (Students demonstrated they are learning focus + intensity and self-agency. Success in Remote Mode would not be possible without these life skills)
• Alpha student work generated $12,315 to help local organizations during Austin’s battle against coronavirus. (That sum does not include parent matches)

Allow me to allow emphasis: Alpha Students increased their productivity, accomplished more work, demonstrated life skills, and gave away over $12,000 all while working in ALPHA ANYWHERE! According to our standards, that is a fairly good Session 4. Now let’s see what we can do in Session 5!

When you sift through the minutes, leaderboards, app completions, etc., don’t lose the fact that it is love of school that makes all of the difference. It is the celebration of quirkiness, individual interests, and hamburger costumes that makes Alpha such a successful place. And if you doubt that, I have the stats to prove it.